Gary Vaynerchuk on Scaling the Unscalable, Self-Awareness, and Being Creative

He turned his father’s New Jersey liquor store from a one million dollar business to generating over 50 million dollars in profit within a few years by using eCommerce, email marketing and aggressive pricing tactics that hadn’t yet been introduced to the industry.

He’s also an entrepreneur extremist, pushing hustle, hard work and pursuit of knowledge backed by radical action. He has many theories on how to reach success, and you can find them spread across various podcasts, webinars, online courses, and more. You can watch the full, hour-long interview with Vaynerchuk right here on 30 Days of Genius.

Today, I want to share with you a taste of Vaynerchuk’s entrepreneurial medicine, including the importance of self-awareness, scaling the unscalable, why creators have big advantages, and how to control your time.

Smartphones, email and social media have made it possible to be virtually everywhere at all times. And if you’re not taking advantage of them, you’re leaving huge opportunities to get yourself noticed, completely untouched.

Keeping up-to-date on the ever-expanding list of resources and ways to reach your audience is one key to self-awareness. You can refuse to download the FB messenger app or upgrade your Nokia flip phone, sure. You can deny the technological revolution for as long as you want, but you’re not doing yourself or your business any favors. Take advantage of the tools at your disposal and move forward.

Scaling the Unscalable

To Vaynerchuk, our technology platforms are essentially an infinite well of target market research and opportunity to build brand rapport.

It only takes a few seconds to respond to a tweet or FB comment or send a Snapchat message, but to your audience it’ll make all the difference.

As a consumer of social media, you watch how your favorite celebrities and role models behave online. You become familiar with their personalities and how they interact with their audience. You’re more likely to relate with someone who connects with their audience than someone who just fills your feed with 140 word sales pitches, right?

Right. Well, the same is true if you’re on the opposite end of things. Your audience will appreciate your interaction way more than the effort it takes to respond, plus it helps you get to know them better. And in turn, give them what they want; which benefits everyone in the long run.

Creators Have a Big Advantage in Business

Vaynerchuk talks about how creators have a huge advantage in business by being able to “move fast on undervalued real estate.”

He chats with Chase Jarvis (our CEO) and covers for example, how easy it was for him to move in on the Snapchat game once he figured out the app.

Creativity is something a “creator” always carries with them. A filmmaker, for example, will have a much easier time creating captivating 10 second Snapchat stories and building an engaged following than say, a marketing executive.

The advantage in business is that a creator has a profitable and respected skill that is always at the ready. Whereas others might have to take time to learn and understand the same skill, creators will already be light years ahead of the game.

This allows creators to take advantage of technology that hasn’t hit the mainstream yet and grow with it as a pioneer, potentially gaining massive success.

Your Time is the One Thing You Control

Vaynerchuk argues that you don’t just become more talented overnight. You can improve your skills, but only incrementally over time.

The way you spend your time is the one thing you can control, and the biggest difference between successful entrepreneurs and those who don’t make much progress.

He says that people that complain about not being successful are often the ones not making the most of their time. Sure, you can binge watch Netflix after you’ve had a long day. Or, you could respond to your audience on Twitter or Snapchat, craft a social media post or simply read up on trends in your industry.

It’s the little steps like that and the people who continue to go the extra mile even after they’ve reached the breaking point, that separate the hustlers from the slackers.

If you’re not seeing success as you’d hoped, take a step back and take a mental inventory of how you spend your time, maybe you’ll unearth something and start to spend your time in a more productive way.

Vaynerchuk has a lot of great advice on how to get started as an entrepreneur or how to push yourself even harder to reach greater success. Check out the full, hour-long interview on 30 Days of Genius for more.

Alexa is a slow traveling New Yorker who loves to write, drinks a lot of coffee, and probably swears too much. Hustling hard in pursuit of location independence, entrepreneurial bad assery, and endless epic sunsets. Follow her mischief at She Tells Travel Tales or on Instagram.